Magic Number

3 might very well be the magic number around Boston over the next 9 months or so. Let me preface this entry by saying that this is simple but pure speculation and can only be filed under: "Hey, it could happen".



There is a very real opportunity that exists out there for three out of the four Boston professional sports teams. If you're halfway intelligible, you've already eliminated the Bruins from this group. The leftovers are the Celtics, the Patriots and the Red Sox and there is a very distinct possibility that all three could be crowned champions of their respective worlds come Fall, Winter and Spring. Three champions in one overly deserving city seems like the loftiest of dreams, but maybe...just maybe it's not.



We're nearing the 3/4 mark of the major league baseball season and here they sit, 6 games up on the Yankees in the East and staring an AL East championship in the face. I was a young lad the last time that happened and nothing would make me happier than to see the Sox finish the job they have started this season.



They have three starting pitchers that should help them get there, as well as three nasty relievers that will all play a hulking role in the charge for the pennant. Schilling, Dice and Beckett pose a healthy problem for most any team in major league baseball in a playoff series, but they all have to be special up until and through that time in order for this thing to materialize. I'm concerned about Schilling, and who isn't? I don't doubt his competitveness, nor do I doubt his knowledge of the game and presence in the dugout. But he's aging rapidly and his strength is ever depleting. We need him to be an ace, point blank. Dice-K will seemingly always give the Sox a chance to win at the very least, and we're staring at a potential Cy Young award winner in Beckett. Piece in Wake and Lester and our rotation is intact and ready for battle.

I started this post on Friday. It's now Monday, and those 'three nasty relievers' that I mentioned so eloquently in the prior paragraphs have now blown two straight games to the less-then-mediocre O's. Here's my problem with yesterday's game: Oki walks the first batter of the inning and Tito takes him out of the game for Gagne. Maybe he's trying to instill confidence in the sloppy slinger, I don't know. But Oki has been lights out in the eighth inning all season and he's proven that a baserunner here and there rarely hurts him because he's absolutely masterful at getting out of self-inflicted jams. Regardless, Gagne comes in and promptly grooves a fastball right down home run lane to Miguel Tejada who quickly deposited the offering into the right-center bleachers. 2 days, 2 blown saves for Gagne. ERA: 2 touchdowns and field goal. AL East lead: 4 games. Yankee bats: smoldering. Anxiety level: heightened.

Time to make myself feel better. Let's look at team #2 in this 3-team picture: the Patriots. Odds on favorites to win the Superbowl, the best quarterback in the league, a much improved defense and possibly the best coach ever. They were on the precipice last season and suddenly imploded over the course of 24 agonizing minutes in Indy (see my post from back in January to relive it), so one can only imagine that with a vastly improved team, results should improve. I can see one team bettering the Pats this season, and they are the Chargers. I, for one, cannot wait until they visit Foxborough on September 16th. There's bad blood and some dormant tempers that once flared, so that promises to be a great one. However, San Diego should be one of the best teams in the league yet again this year. It should be interesting.

The final team to consider here is the Celtics, who kept busy in the past week and signed G Eddie House and F Scot Pollard to add some much needed depth to a depleted bench. Granted, neither will do much in the way of exciting the fans, but it's depth nonetheless. Honestly, it's a really strange feeling to be confident and excited going into a Celtics' season. For one, I don't remember the last time it felt this way and for another, pride hasn't existed around the Garden since...well, you know when. Seriously, we have the Truth and the Big Ticket and they're flanked by one of the top 5 shooters in the game in Ray Allen. There's something that will help you sleep at night.

I kind of hope this doesn't happen; that is, this three-team championship. It might be way too much to handle over the stretch of merely 7 or 8 months. And the only way to go from there is down, so where's the fun in that?

I'm kidding. It would be awesome.